In recent years, a movement has gained traction to replace incandescent light bulbs with lighting fixtures that employ more efficient lighting technologies as well as to replace relatively efficient fluorescent lighting fixtures with lighting technologies that produce a more pleasing, natural light. One such technology that shows tremendous promise employs solid-state lighting sources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). Compared with incandescent bulbs, LED-based light fixtures are much more efficient at converting electrical energy into light, are longer lasting, and are also capable of producing light that is very natural. Compared with fluorescent lighting, LED-based fixtures are also very efficient, but are capable of producing light that is much more natural and more capable of accurately rendering colors. As a result, lighting fixtures that employ LED technologies are expected to replace incandescent and fluorescent bulbs in residential, commercial, and industrial applications. As such, there is a continuing need for LED-based fixtures that can replace and at least match, and preferably exceed, the optical performance of incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.
In lighting environments that employ LED-based fixtures, there is a need to properly illuminate the environment, and in particular, the task surfaces on which tasks requiring light are performed. These task surfaces may include workbenches, desks, conference tables, playing surfaces, floors, walls, and the like. While lighting designers do their best to select the type, number, and placement of lighting fixtures for the environment, the amount of light illuminating the task surface may vary greatly based on the amount of ambient light that is present in the environment. For example, an environment with a lot of windows may have a lot of ambient sunlight during the day and little or no ambient light in the evening. There is a need for an efficient and effective way to compensate for the ambient light in a lighting environment.